My Reign as Emperor -- A Series of Works by Su Tong

Author: Su Tong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: My Emperor's Life is a historical novel by Su Tong that blends realistic techniques with modern artistic methods. It is also a story where Su Tong unleashes his creative imagination, freely constructing a palace and concocting a historical narrative according to his own recipe. The era, dynasty, and characters are all illusory, yet the story is told with a sense of realism. The entire work adopts a first-person narrative, telling the story of a naive and ignorant prince named Duanbai, who becomes a puppet king of the state of Xie under the manipulation of the Empress Dowager's power. Though he holds the lives and deaths of his subjects in his hands, he lives in constant fear and anxiety. He is merely a political tool used by his grandmother and mother, and though he wishes to resist, he is powerless to do so. A man who was not meant to be an emperor—a man without the ambition or ability to rule—becomes the sovereign. No wonder, Duanbai and the mad old palace servant Sun Xin repeatedly utter the ominous phrase, "The disaster of Xie is coming!" The disaster is always looming, casting a deep shadow over Duanbai's heart. Thus, he is filled with lament and helplessness. The entire novel is imbued with a dirge-like melancholy, exquisitely tragic. The author's narration is exceptionally calm, untroubled. Within the palace, there is bloodshed and swordplay: Lady Yang is nailed alive inside a coffin; the favored concubine of the former king is unjustly exiled to the cold palace—simply because she was skilled at playing the pipa, her ten fingers are broken by the jealous Lady Meng. The tearful imperial concubines have their tongues cut out by the young emperor; how brutal! Yet the author's pen remains serene, even somewhat appreciative, writing that the tongues of those tearful concubines looked like delicious red braised pork tongues. Outside the palace, wounded soldiers who fought for the nation die at the hands of the emperor they served with loyalty, and the bloody interrogation of the failed rebel Li Yizhi is unbearable to read. But the author's language is always calm, elegant, mysterious, light, and gentle. The details of the work are realistic, yet the narration is delicate. It essentially recreates the life of the protagonist.